From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnot necessarilynot necessarilyPOSSIBLEpossibly, but not certainly That is not necessarily true. Expensive restaurants aren’t necessarily the best. Having this disease does not necessarily mean that you will die young. ‘So the school will have to close down, then?’ ‘Not necessarily.’ → necessarily
Examples from the Corpus
not necessarily• "Are women getting better roles in movies?" "Not necessarily."• But no I hadn't, not necessarily.• But even if the court rules that there is no such federal right, it would not necessarily affect the Oregon law.• Does he accept that some people prefer to prepare for international emergencies and not necessarily be involved in the local scene?• Bigger is not necessarily better.• Chapters, not necessarily in this order, on: Agriculture, forests and fisheries.• Country Jacobitism and legitimism were not necessarily incompatible.• Neural networks can produce very good answers, though not necessarily optimum solutions, in remarkably short times.• Recollections of past events do not necessarily shape policy, but they certainly influence the thinking of the individual who shapes policy.• Other facets of self-esteem may be poor, but are not necessarily so.• That is not necessarily true. 